Crimson Embers
by allylovesbluefood
Summary: Natsu, the God of Fire, still misses his past love. Then he meets Lucy, a mortal girl who has the same aura as Lisanna, and everything changes. Now her bodyguard, the pair experience life as trouble comes their way into their lives. As Lucy tries not to fall for Natsu, and Natsu is conflicted with his own feelings, what lies for the two of them? [Feudal Japan AU][NaLu][Co-Authored]
1. Prologue

**Hello!**

 **Well… this fanfiction is actually also going to be co-authored by Kireizuken (a friend of mine in real life) and we want to give you guys a heads up on what this specific fanfiction is going to be like.**

 **So, it will be pretty slow paced (except for the beginning kinda) and the chapters will be fairly long. Also, there's no guarantee on how fast we will update or how long this story might end up being.**

 **By the way, it's rated T for some rough language every now and then (mainly in the A/N) and maybe some future sexual themes? ;)**

 **In addition to all that, we did get our inspiration from another manga (turns out Crystal97 beat us to it xD but we found your story AFTER we thought of ours and our story is a lot different than yours so don't worry) and this is our own AU that we thought of.**

 _Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail._

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Prologue

 _Natsu PoV_

"Hey, Natsu." Recognizing the voice, I turned and looked at Lisanna, my nakama. "What?"

"Here." She handed me a small, red box with intricate designs all over it that had the words 'To Natsu' on paper attached with a string. I looked at her with bewilderment, confused at the random present. "What's with the sudden gift?"

Her face fell. "You seriously don't remember your own birthday?!" I watched as the white-haired woman tried to be as mad as she could, but the smile was too strong as it slowly crept up onto her face.I scratched my head, laughing in slight embarrassment as I did so. "Well, now that you mention it, it IS my birthday…."

A sigh came from Lisanna. "You might as well open it then." I opened the box carefully, trying hard not to ruin the beautiful box and saw a white strip of fabric. Puzzled, I looked back at her. "What's this?"

"It's a headband you idiot," she said with a laugh. The same laugh that I fell head-over-heels with. "Oh." I felt dumb for not figuring _that_ much out, although then again, it was just a strip of fabric. "Here, I'll tie it on for you." Lisanna walked behind me, so she could tie the knot at the very back of my head.

In the midst of tying the strip on my forehead she added, "I got you this so that you could carry a piece of me around without having it to be an inconvenient thing. And by the way I made it fireproof since I know how often you fight with Gray." I couldn't help but chuckle at the truth in her words. "Well, you got that right." I felt her smile from behind me as she finished tying the last knot.

"There. All done." She handed me a mirror (from Mavis knows where) and I looked at myself. I began to playfully pose at my reflection, eliciting a laugh from behind me. "I have to admit: I'm pretty goddamn sexy." She hit me in annoyance, although I could detect the playfulness within. "Don't even get me started with that."

"Oh, so you're admitting it?"

I received another punch.

"Of course I am, Natsu," Lisanna said laughing and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on my lips. "Oh, and one more thing." I turned around quizzically, not knowing what she could possibly say next.

"Natsu, wake up."

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 ** _—_** ** _End of Chapter —_**

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 **Well...** _ **shit**_ **.**

 **By the way, this IS a NaLu Fanfiction.**

 **Please R/R!**

 **P.S. We uploaded Chapter 1 with the prologue so that it might actually make sense for once.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Andddd here we are back again with this NaLu fanfiction. Enjoy!**

 _Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail._

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Chapter 1

 _Natsu PoV_

"-atsu! Natsu! Wake up already!"

I groan.

 _Happy, I hate you for waking me up._

I try opening my eyes, but they feel like they've been glued shut. I rub them and feel flakes on my fingers and know the reason behind it immediately. I finally open my eyes.

"Natsu… You cried about her didn't you…?"

I looked over on my right to see Happy, my Exceed, looking at me with hints of concern and sadness on his face.

"...Yeah…. I did… again.."

I felt a small paw softly rub my back while saying sadly, "It's been over 130 years, y'know…"

"I know." I tried to calm my breathing and closed my eyes.

 _Lisanna, my nakama, was killed in a war between Heaven and Hell, the war which we called the Kurosawa Rebellion, as Kurosawa Takeshi was the King of Demons at the time and was the one who initiated the war._

 _The gods won of course, but it was mainly thanks to Gray. He ended up earning the title "Demonslayer" and became the next ruler of Hell._

 _However, we had some losses as well, one of them being Lisanna. No one really knew how or when she died, but while some of our scouts were counting the dead, she was one of them._

 _Since she was the Goddess of the Hearth, all the warmth from Heaven dissipated on that day. The next god or goddess to be born would probably inherit her role to make up for her death._

 _Sure, I was the God of Fire, but she was the one who controlled the feeling of warmth when you sat back and relaxed with the the crackling of the flames from the fireplace in the background._

 _...Even though it's been a long time, I still can't get over her death._

"Natsu~ You remember what day it is right~?," Happy said with a sinister smile—breaking me out of my trance.

 _Crap. Today is Council Day._

"Happy... I don't want to go today..." I said seriously for once.

The blue cat ignored my pleas and dragged me out of my futon.

"I get that you're still sad, but that doesn't matter right now! You know better than me about what happens if you don't go, so _GET UP_!"

My ears hurt.

"Oi, Happy. You also know better than anyone about what happens when you get me mad, right?" I smiled with a deathly glare.

I noticed that a shiver ran down the cat's back involuntarily.

"...Aye."

 _Council Day was the third day of each month where all of the gods and goddesses would get together and discuss future plans and stuff._

 _Not that I care, really._

 _I would always just sleep through it, but today was a meeting I couldn't miss whether I slept in it or not._

I pulled myself up and grabbed my plain low-cut, black yukata off my chair. Happy then flew next to me, helping me tie the remaining black cords.

"Oh yeah, Natsu," Happy stated with a grin.

"Hm?"

"I managed to repair your favorite robe after your fight with Gray last week. But seriously though Natsu, you need to stop ruining your clothes every time Gray comes to visit." Happy let out a loud sigh. "I almost thought that the sparks in the cloth would never appear again after he froze you in a block of ice. I also made it bit longer because you grew a little bit even though you're already an adult."

I couldn't help but smirk at that last comment. "Then I guess I'm still growing— In _certain_ areas at that, if you catch my drift."

He punched me.

Still grinning, I managed to say, "But thanks, Happy. You're the best."

"I know," said the blue cat with a grin.

"You're rubbing off on me, aren't you?"

"Maybe~"

"Well, then again, we've been partners for over a millennium, so what would one expect?"

The Exceed ignored my last comment and flew over to my closet and took out the mentioned robe; a simple black robe that slowly faded into a deep, red orange that looked as if it had been singed, with bits of faint embers and sparks that glowed, just like coal after a fire died down on the edge, yet strangely didn't catch the rest in flames.

I then opened my drawer where it contained a thin, white strip of cloth.

I felt my fists tighten.

 _Lisanna…_

"-ello…? Hello? Heaven to Natsu?"

"Huh, what?"

I blinked twice and realized that Happy had been trying to get my attention for the past who-knows-how-long minutes. "Oh, sorry…"

"Geez, Natsu. You've been really out of it, these past couple of days. But then again, you _have_ been having more nightmares than usual..."

I couldn't resist a sigh in knowing that Happy was completely right in what he said. I gripped the strip of cloth tightly, but started to slowly tie the white strip on my forehead, still partly reminiscing in the past.

"Let's go, Happy," I said turning around halfway to meet the cat's eyes with a smile.

"AYE!"

* * *

 _Ugh._

It was one thing to have a nightmare (would you call that a nightmare?) and not be able to sleep again, and another when you had a nightmare yet you're trying desperately to stay awake, due to the fact that you'd be chopped to bits and fed to the Imperial Koi fish as food if you fell asleep once more.

I could almost _feel_ Erza's katana poking my back ready to kill me.

I tried to stifle a yawn in hopes of living.

I swear I was going to fall asleep at any moment, until I felt a thin, cold blade at the pressure point of my neck.

Immediately, I felt a hot rain of sweat pouring down my back.

It didn't take a genius to understand that Erza _did_ catch me dozing off and was keeping an eye on me.

 _Gods_ can _die if killed by another god, but we also have the ability to heal from injuries a lot quicker than the average human. However, that didn't necessarily excuse the pain issue._

I straightened my back and tried to focus on the rest of the meeting, with the objective of surviving another day in mind. I slowly turned around, trying to avoid getting cut, and looked at my sister with a half smile and a sweatdrop.

"Erza… _dear sister_ … You know… Can you let off on the —"

" _No_."

I turned back around knowing that talking to Erza any longer would just make the situation worse, and resumed on trying to focus on the meeting with a defeated sigh.

"...and so we are planning to ally with _Jigoku_ by sending one of our young goddesses to be able to marry the current _Maoh_."

 _Psh._

I still didn't understand why Laxus used the words "Jigoku" and "Maoh".

You might as well just call it Hell and just say Demonlord, or even better, Gray.

We already knew each other so there wouldn't really be a problem with formalities.

Laxus then turned to look at Juvia, and said slowly, "Goddess of Water, you were the one chosen to become the wife of —"

"NO!"

Everyone in the room turned to look at the person who objected and found our eyes on Jellal, who was seeming to be restrained by Wendy.

"Big brother…." Wendy was desperately trying to have her brother sit down again, but he adamantly refused.

"Laxus. I will not have you just randomly choosing girls as you see fit. You can't just take my sister and —"

"Jellal. It's okay," Juvia interrupted without looking at him.

I raised an eyebrow as I saw her place her hands on her lap, trying to stop them from trembling.

She turned and looked at Jellal and again said firmly, " _It's okay._ "

The God of Heavenly Spirits opened and then closed his mouth without saying a word. With a face of anger, he reluctantly sat down.

Happy whispered, "Juvia isn't really okay, huh?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Not one bit. But I have to say, she's a strong woman if I do say so myself. Besides, Gray visits all the time and we all know how he is. And plus, he always did like Juvia, well maybe not _like like_ but at least to some degree."

Happy, being satisfied with my answer, resumed to sitting down next to me.

The rest of the meeting went without any interruptions except for the occasional cough and sneeze. As we walked out of the room, I couldn't help but take a deep breath of fresh air, since the meeting place did smell like old fish.

"Yo, Happy."

"Aye?" The Exceed turned and looked at me, ready for my order.

"I don't have any plans for the rest of the day right?"

He then took out an imaginary notebook and preceded to scan it and replied, "Nope." He met my gaze once more before continuing, "You don't even have anything for the rest of the week even. Unless you count sleeping in as a thing."

"Alright then." I tightened the band around my head and turned around to face the giant gates of Heaven. "Let's go on over to the earthly realm then, shall we?"

* * *

"Uwahh~ Look at all this stuff, Natsu!"

"Oi, Happy. You need to remember to keep your voice down."

"Aye aye~"

Whenever Happy and I would visit the earthly realm, we had to disguise ourselves as normal people.

Happy would transform into one of those lucky cat keychains that hung from my belt, and I would just take off my ember robe (since gods in general looked like humans anyway). Happy could still talk, but it would expose his coverup since you would see the mouth move and hear his voice.

By the time I realized it, I had already aimlessly walked quite deep into the market.

I looked over on the side and saw a women's accessories kiosk.

I notice a specific accessory, and pick it up, staring at it absentmindedly.

 _Lisanna would've liked this hair pin…_

Happy's words shook me out of my trance.

"Natsu. _Natsu._ "

"Shh. I told you not to talk in pub—"

"No. It's serious."

My facial expression automatically hardened. "Do we need to retreat?"

"No. The problem is that, well, there's this girl and..."

I frowned. "Wait. I don't get it. What's going on?"

I looked down at the blue keychain and saw the cat bite his lip.

"The girl…. She has the exact same aura as Lisanna."

I froze.

"Wait... then... are you saying that she could be… _Lisanna's reincarnation_?"

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 _ **— End of Chapter —**_

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 **Just an F.Y.I… the rest of the chapters won't nearly be as long as this one. We just needed to get the setting and everything in and the feel. BUT THE BALL IS FINALLY ROLLING…. Please R/R :D**


	3. Chapter 2

**Well… We're back again and we were quite surprised at the number of follows and favs for such a short amount of time. =w= By the way, the characters might seem a bit OOC at the moment, but we assure you all that they'll become normal soon. Enjoy!**

 _Disclaimer: We don't own Fairy Tail._

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Chapter 2

 _Lucy PoV_

Okay.

You know, I never asked to be involved with this.

I never did, never wanted to.

But it's clearly _all his fault._

I was only living my average life, just chatting with Levy about the latest scrolls in a scroll shop, when all of a sudden this pink haired dude charges in, spots _me_ , throws me over his shoulder, and then races out!

 _Did you see Levy's face?! She was beaming! Beaming, I tell you! She had_ hearts _in her eyes! She even mouthed "Good luck" to me!_

When he finally put me down in a quiet area, and he held onto my shoulders firmly, and looked me in the eye.

"Do you remember me?" he asked.

If you thought that this was going to be one of those, cheesy, cliche, romance scenes, you're wrong.

I mean yes, I did blush, but it's not an everyday thing where a guy puts his face really close to yours so I would consider my reaction justified.

So of course, being the logical person I am, I stared back at him with a straight face and kicked him in the nuts.

His pupils went dilated, and he crumbled to the ground, clutching his nether regions.

"Who the _fuck_ are _you_ , _creep_?!" I glared.

I almost never curse, but sometimes you just have to make a point.

He groaned in response, so I just walked off.

But of course, _no,_ that wasn't the end of it like I had hoped.

I heard footsteps behind me after a while, and I sighed exasperated, pausing my footing.

"Stop following me already, _stalker_ , it's pretty obvious that you are stubborn for a person I've never even me- mmph!"

A hand had clamped over my mouth, and I had blacked out.

So.

Yes.

I was kidnapped, and here I am now, tied up and gagged.

I shouldn't have let my guard down, but see, the pink haired guy made me really riled up and because of that, I am now being held for ransom.

And that's why this is now all his fault.

* * *

I am annoyed.

 _Majorly_ annoyed.

The fact that they had the common sense to bind my arms _and my legs_ , meant that they knew I knew how to defend myself.

And now, I had no way to use my weapon.

Great.

Just when I was trying to figure out a plan to get myself out, I heard a crash on the right.

I looked up in surprise, and then spotted _him_.

That pink haired guy, the whole reason why I'm here.

My eyes narrowed, and when he saw me, he untied the gag around my mouth.

I spat at his face. "You set this whole thing up, didn't you?!"

He blinked. "Huh?"

"You planned this all out, didn't you?!"

He sighed. "Look, I'm-" His face hardened, and he then suddenly turned and punched one of the captors behind him.

They were surprised, almost as if they were trying to attack him as discreetly as possible.

I frowned. _So I guess he's not with them._

When he was done beating them up (not sure what to call going into rage mode and just kind of destroying the place and the kidnappers), he untied my arms, and I crossed them over my chest.

"So, if you're not with them, you're a stalker, aren't you? You couldn't have _possibly_ just found me here on coincidence!"

He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Er... well... you see... I can kinda sense your prese- I- I mean, I can kinda er... s-smell you?"

I deadpanned. "Oh really? From hundreds of feet, if not miles, away?"

"Uhh...Y-yeah, kinda sorta?"

I mentally facepalmed.

 _Is this guy serious?_

All of a sudden, his eyes widened, and he enveloped my frame with a giant hug and spun me around.

I frowned. "What the hell are you-"

I then heard the sound of a blade piercing through skin, and blinked. I felt the guy's blood soak through my silk kimono.

My eyes widened as I understand what just happened, and I whipped out my metal-fan placed in the waistband of my kimono, and stabbed the remaining captor who tried to attack me.

I sighed, and watched as the pink-haired guy and almost-dead kidnapper both sink to the floor, with both of their blood seeping through their clothes to the ground.

The pink-haired guy was still slightly awake, and he smiled at me. "You're safe..."

I stared at his injury, and seeing it as not very minor, I looked at him. "What's your name?"

He grinned. "It's Na... tsu..."

"Well, _Natsu_ , I'm Lucy. Seeing as you _did_ save my life, I guess I'll just have to patch you up at my house as an apolo-"

He was knocked out cold.

No point in finishing my "sorry speech" then.

I sighed, and heaved him over my shoulder, and I became very aware about how tall and muscular he was.

I couldn't help but sigh again. "How could a guy like this take down multiple people and yet not be able to fend for himself?"

I was about halfway home (which took quite a while thanks to this guy) and then heard,

"LU-CHAN!"

I looked up, and smiled, finally seeing someone that I actually knew. "Levy. Help me out here. We're going to patch up his injuries at home."

The bluenette blinked, but smiled. "Alright."

* * *

"So!" Levy started cheerily. "Your name was Natsu, was it?"

He blinked. "Y-yeah it is... um wait, where exactly am I?"

"You're currently in the Heartfilia household! We decided to patch up your injuries, seeing as you _were_ bleeding, and that you _did_ save Lu-chan's life!"

He blinked again. "Lu-chan...?"

I sighed. "That'd be me."

He blinked, and then stood abruptly, pointing at me. "EH?! _You_ are?! But I thought your name was... er... wait, what was your name again?"

I smiled, feeling my eyebrow twitch. " _It was Lucy_."

He nodded, brightening. "Right right, your name was Luigi!"

I felt a bulge on my forehead. "It was _Lucy._ "

"That's right, it was Lucy! So it was Lu-chan after all!"

I glared. "It's just Lucy _, creep!_ "

He smiled awkwardly. "..You're scary Luigi..."

"For the last time—"

"Ah, Lu-chan, be nice to him. He was your savior, after all!"

I pinched the inner corners of my eyes. _He wasn't my savior._ _If anything, he was the main reason why I got into that situation._

She brightened. "I know! You must be hungry, Natsu. Would you like something to eat?"

All of a sudden his behavior changed, and he stared at Levy. "Are you an angel? No, a goddess? Actually, are you _my_ savior?!"

She laughed. "Aha, I wish, but that'd be you, in this case. I'll be right back!"

*presents with plain rice and few toppings*

Levy smiled awkwardly. "S-sorry... I just realized that the rest of the servants just went shopping right now. T-this is all we have..."

Natsu stares at it, his eyes sparkling, and shoveled a spoonful of food into his mouth.

 _Wait.. You have got to be kidding me… He's crying tears of joy?!_

"..."

I could only assume Levy was thinking the exact same thoughts as I was..

"Thish ish sho delishoush! What did you put in thish?!" he exclaimed while eating.

"Er..."

A knock sounds on the door. "Lucy, is the young man awake now?"

I mentally hit my head on the wall at the sight of his messy eating. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Good, good!" My dad entered the room, and he smiles at Natsu. "So, I heard you were the young man that saved my daughter!"

 _Way to be straight to the point, Dad._

""Yesh I am shir. Kinda. I shink. Ah, can I get more foodsh pleash?!"

"Well this man sure knows how to eat!" My dad laughed. "I've decided! He's perfect for you, Lucy!"

"Wait wait wait-" I pulled him aside, and glared at him. "I don't want to _marry_ this guy, Dad! We barely met! You don't even know him! You even said that I could choose my future hus—"

He just laughed. "No no, dear Lucy, I meant that he's perfect to be your bodyguard!"

 _Now I'm not sure if that's better than marrying him..._

"Wait... how does him eating a lot have to do with protecting me?"

"Hahaha! I knew it, you like him too, don't ya, Lucy?~"

I blinked. _Are you ignoring me? Okay, let's try Plan B._

"Dad… please. You know that I can take care of myself. I don't need a bodyguard. You of all people should know that. I'm _your_ daughter after all."

"So, young man, do you have a job?"

 _He's already talking to him! Is he ignoring me on purpose?!_

"No shir, I do not. I neber hash one eishur," Natsu responded, still talking with even more food in his mouth.

My dad beamed. "Then that's perfect! You're hired!"

I blinked. "Wait a minute, _what_?"

Natsu gulped down the last scoop of rice, and then turned to us. "So, what were you two talking about again?"

I glared at his stupidity, and my dad pat Natsu on his back. "Since you're Lucy's bodyguard and have to be with her all the time, you'll be living with us. Levy, prepare the spare room we have for this young man, alright?"

Levy nodded. "Yes sir." She scurried away.

Natsu blinks. "Wait wait wait… what? Hold up… I didn't agree to any of —"

"No worries, Natsu, was it? You'll be fine!"

He stares at him in petrified shock, and I sighed, giving up, and stared at him.

"Resistance is futile," I simply stated.

A snicker sounded through the room _… Kind of a cat-like snicker…? Is there even such a thing? There weren't any cats in the area and I was pretty sure cats didn't laugh—_

My thoughts got cut short when Levy re-entered the room.

Levy gave a quick wink at me. "Lucy, I need to go check on the laundry right now… Why don't you take Natsu to his new room?"

Before I could object, she skipped on out and left Natsu and I alone in the room.

I sighed for the millionth time today.

"I guess I have no choice… "

I turned and looked back at Natsu who was staring back at me.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go see your new room now, shall we?", I say with a half-smile.

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— _ **End Chapter**_ —

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 **A: So, how was that?**

 **K: Ah... the ending... Great, we know.**

 **R/R? :)**

 **P.S. Just because we updated this really quick doesn't mean we will do so for the rest of the chapters lol. But no worries. We won't make you guys wait _that_ long xD**


	4. Chapter 3

**A: Thank you for the huge amount of favs and follows in such a short time. You guys really did make our days lol. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **K: The two of us already mentioned this in the prologue, but I'm going to say it again. This story will be slow-paced (I think) because we wanted it to be a bit more realistic I guess. Like at the very least, we didn't want them to absolutely fall in love in like three days kind of thing. Anyways thank you all for following and favoriting (is that even a word) our fanfic and I'll stop talking now so have fun reading!**

 _Disclaimer: We don't and never will own Fairy Tail. (sadly)_

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Chapter 3

 _Natsu PoV_

I stared blankly at the dark ceiling.

Even after hours of just thinking, I still couldn't wrap my head around the day's events.

The possibility of Lisanna being reborn as a human was pretty low, and to be Lucy out of all people was even lower. And to think that I became the bodyguard of the reincarnated version of Lisanna?

Even less likely.

I put my hand over my right torso, slightly wincing at the pain from earlier.

I had gone through worse before, but because I'm in the earthly realm at the moment, my wounds heal a bit slower than usual and my healing properties aren't as fast.

 _Speaking of which..._

"...Happy?"

The blue cat (now back in his original form) groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"...Aye?"

"What do you do as a bodyguard?"

Happy's face stoned.

"Did you seriously just wake me up for that?"

I watched as the Exceed dug back under the covers of the futon as he mumbled a good night.

I turned back around and resumed staring at the boring ceiling.

I sighed.

I quietly slipped out of the futon, trying not to wake Happy up, and came to a conclusion that I wasn't going to get any sleep and walked outside.

As I walked around the vast garden, I couldn't help but stare in awe of the placement of all the flowers and trees and fully understood at how much land the Heartfilia's owned and how rich they were.

Sure, heaven was a lot more beautiful, but the view was still breathtaking.

I turned the corner in the pathway and came in contact with a manmade waterfall and pond.

I let out a low whistle, still admiring the scenery.

Questions were still flooding my mind, so I decided to walk to the edge of the pond.

I knelt on one knee and touched two fingers over the surface of the water.

" _Mizu."_

I envisioned the person I wanted to talk to, and a familiar faced black-haired man looked back at me and smirked.

"Well hello, my little brother."

* * *

"Yo, Luce. Where are we going?"

Lucy turned around and just looked at me.

"Weren't you paying attention when my dad was talking to the both of us?"

"Sorry. I was falling asleep because I didn't get that much sleep last night."

She gave me a weak smile.

"Well I don't blame you, I didn't either."

Lucy turned back around and gestured for me to follow.

I jogged a bit to catch up; now on her right.

"Well, my dad said for us to go and pick up an order from a new blacksmith in town."

"Wait, I don't get it. Couldn't he have asked one of his servants to go and get it for him?"

She shrugged.

"My dad doesn't really trust his servants to pick up special items, I guess."

"But doesn't he trust Levy?"

"He does, but she had to run a different errand right now. That's why I'm going instead."

She paused her speaking and glanced at me.

"And of course you're going with me since you're my new bodyguard."

"Fair enough, I suppose."

Lucy then explained that the town's old blacksmith retired and his nephew from another city came to take over his shop.

Her dad had ordered a couple of new farm tools to replace some of their old ones and to test the competence of the new owner to see if he should order future things from him later.

By the time she had finished explaining, we had reached the shop.

"Well that was fairly quick," I comment.

"The blacksmith _is_ only three blocks away so one might guess the walk to be short."

We enter the shop and the smell of metal entered our nostrils.

I watched as Lucy walked on over to the new blacksmith who looked, well, a tad bit abnormal.

He had long, black spiky hair with multiple piercings on top of his eyes and nose and had a very large body frame.

I sat down on a stool and stared at Lucy who was explaining her order to the burly man and thought of last night's discussion I had with Zeref.

— _Flashback —_

" _So… would you care to explain to me your current situation? As to why you aren't home," asked the God of Death while resting his face on his hand._

 _I give him a quick summary of all that had happened earlier today, excluding the part where Lucy's energy felt like Lisanna's._

" _So… Why_ exactly _did you want to talk to me?"_

 _I sucked in a breath._

" _I just... had a question. What are the possibilities of meeting the reincarnation of a god in human form in Japan?_

 _Zeref had now started to examine his fingernails._

" _Well… I would say… 0.003%...? Somewhere around there at least." He looked back at me. "I'm guessing this question is referring to Lisanna's case, no? And you're asking because the girl who is now your master could be her?"_

" _N—y-yeah…"_

 _Zeref raised an eyebrow. "You did hear me say 0.006%, right? There's no way—"_

" _Actually you said 0.003%."_

 _Zeref just gave me a look. "Anyways, there's no way you could've met her reincarnated body, and we don't even know if she was reborn as a human. She could be a rice stalk if anything."_

" _Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get your point." I swallow. "But… Supposing it is her… Does the reincarnated body have the same personality or traits as the original form?"_

 _The black-haired man looked me square in the eye. "You do know that this is a pointless question, right?"_

" _Just get to the point already."_

" _The reincarnated body of a god or goddess do actually take on some of the traits and personalities. Although it may not be like the exact original, it should be relatively the same. However, the characteristics only carry on over if the reincarnation is a human, since plants and animals can't really have anything in common with a god or goddess, maybe except for the fact that both are still alive."_

— _End of Flashback —_

Lucy was still waiting for her items, and I decided to take the chance to examine her.

 _Blonde hair…. Brown eyes… Long hair…_

I started to feel heat creep up on my cheeks as noticed her accentuated chest and immediately looked away.

I watched as she smiled at the blacksmith when he came back with the tools; her smile was one where her teeth would show and her eyes would shine.

 _Lisanna had white hair, blue eyes, short hair, and she smiled with her mouth closed and her eyes would crinkle at the corners…_

"Hey, Natsu. You okay?"

"Huh?"

I was so immersed in my thoughts that I had just barely realized that Lucy had placed the new tools in a bag and was now standing leaning down and looking at me concerned.

"O-oh, yeah. Let's go."

I stood up and brushed myself off and set for the door while lightly shaking my head.

 _Yeah, there's no way Lucy could be Lisanna's reincarnation_.

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— _**End of Chapter —**_

* * *

 **K: Thank you guys for all the support you have given us. (It really does make us feel important lol) And a Happy April Fool's to you all!**

 **A: HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It took quite a while to write our ideas into words, aha! Thanks always for the support you've given us, and till' the next update!**

 **Please R/R! :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Well… Both of us are officially off spring break so…. We aren't going to update as fast. :|**

 **Anyways ENJOY!**

 _Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail._

* * *

Chapter 4

 _Lucy PoV_

I peered into my bag. "Well, I guess we _will_ order some future things from him again."

The tools were very clean cut, without any extra bumps or edges on them.

Natsu leaned towards me to look at the tools as well. "Huh. They're actually not that bad."

I stared at him with a frown. "What do you mean when you say, 'They're actually not that bad?'"

He scratched his pink hair. "Well, to be honest, I was kind of prejudiced when I saw his appearance… He looked more like a gang leader or something rather than a blacksmith, I guess..."

I crossed my fingers to make an X-shape. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Natsu. Shame on you. Judging people by their looks. Wow."

As Natsu continued to be preoccupied with scratching his hair, I looked on with amusement as I saw the bare tips of his ears turning red.

He then tried to divert the attention by pointing at our mansion. "Ah, here we are, home sweet home."

"You mean _my_ home," I corrected.

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Well, I live here too now so I can still say it's my home too."

"Fine, fine. Whatever you say." I pat him on the back as a sarcastic way of admitting that he's right.

"Hey, Dad? We're ba-!" I yell, but then jumped at the immediate, sudden "Welcome home, Lucy, Natsu!~".

I don't know how, but somehow my overweight dad had popped up _right_ in front of our faces, even though the only way to get to us was through one hallway.

"...Erm, sir, h-how did you–" Natsu started, only to be cut off by my dad's laughter.

"Don't worry, I'm not a wizard or anything! ****** I was just waiting for you two to return. You see, the maids are out shopping, and there's no one to cook dinner. I was thinking we were to eat out. So, I want you, Lucy," he looked at Natsu, "-with Natsu of course," he looked back at me, "to bring home some dinner."

I frowned. "But we literally just came ba–"

"No no no, dear, no excuses! You two go now, alright? I'm hungry, so don't keep your poor dad waiting, Lucy!" He laughed cheerily. He took the bag with the farm tools out of my hands and sent me a smile. "Thank you for picking up the tools!~" He walked away, looking through the bag.

We heard a distant, " _Oh~ these are beautiful! We will order these again from the same person then!"_

Natsu and I just stood there speechless; still registering what just happened.

I inwardly groaned, knowing that we had to go out again, whether we wanted to or not..

I turned to Natsu. "Well… I guess we have no choice but to go out again…" I sighed. "Sorry."

He shrugged. "Nah, it's alright. I mean, more exercise, right?"

 **A: sorry for the random author's note, but the (**) I put earlier is just cause I added "wizard" because it was pretty ironic that he'd say that… okay, sorry, I'll stop, on to the story**

* * *

As we were walking to the market to find something for our dinner, yells suddenly sounded from around the area, and I frowned.

"Natsu… do you know what's going on?"

He was perplexed too. "No, actually… we should probably go check it out, Luce."

"To be the hero of the day and protect the innocent civilians?" Anyone could've spotted the obvious amusement in my tone.

He gave his trademark grin. "Hey, what can I say? I've never been a bodyguard, and I'm doing a pretty good job, if I can say so myself. Being a hero can't be _that_ hard."

I shook my head. "Let's just go, Mr. Hero."

He gave a mock salute. "Yes, Sir!"

"It's Ma'am, not Sir."

* * *

Our smiles disappeared at the sight of the market.

What was once a neat area with bundles of food and accessory/clothing stands, was now just an example of complete annihilation.

Relief flooded into me as I spotted people who seemed to be unharmed.

"Wait…" Natsu said, confused. "If the people are safe, then doesn't that mean–"

His voice was cut off by complaints of the store owners.

" _It's that thief again!"_

" _All my precious earnings...!"_

" _-They're all gone!"_

" _What will I do now…?!"_

I sighed. "It's him again, huh?"

Natsu turned to me. "You know him, Lucy?"

"Well… not exactly. He's known as Goto*, a thief that's been wrecking havoc in the nearby cities. I guess he finally decided to choose our city as our next target…"

"I see… Goto… huh?"

"Anyway, we'll probably just have to head back home in the end… I'm sure Dad will understand our circumstances. Surely he'll be more relieved that we're safe than be devastated we came back with no food… right?"

We stared at each other, the same thought clear in our minds.

 _Though I honestly doubt that previous statement…_

Natsu cleared his throat. "Erm… let's go, then, shall we?"

I nodded, and moved to walk beside Natsu, only to feel a sharp pain in my feet. I stopped and knelt down to see what the source of the pain was, and it turned out to be a blister.

I sighed. "Really...? Why now out of all times…"

At that exact moment, I heard quick, uneven footsteps coming from behind me, and realization dawned on me. _Don't tell me…_

"Oi, Luce, stop lagging behi– Lucy?"

At this point I had already taken out my metal fan, and had it placed under the man's neck, drawing a thin line of blood.

I narrowed my eyes. "Don't even think about it. I am _not_ getting kidnapped again."

The man's face paled, and a hand was placed onto my shoulder. "L-Lucy, you look kinda scary—I mean, you should let him go, I think he understood the message," said Natsu.

I glared at him, turning my attention away from the man. "Natsu, you don't get it, this has happened WAY _too many times to count!_ I'm _sick and tired_ of _-_ "

I turned back just in time to see the man smirk, and then my hair was suddenly let loose onto my shoulders.

He ran, saying something around the lines of, "Thank you for wearing an expensive hairpin as always today, Miss Lucy Heartfilia!~"

 _Goto._

I instinctively started to run after him, but I had forgotten about my foot and fell forward; only to be caught by Natsu.

"Whoa, whoa there Lucy. You can't just go around running after people."

I was starting to panic.

"N-Natsu! I need help in getting that back, it's –" I bit my lip, and felt my fists clench. "That hairpin is important to me."

"What do you mean, "you need help"? You're pretty independent, Lucy, and it's the first time you've asked me to –" He paused once he saw the blister on my feet. He stared at me, and nodded. He turned around and squatted. "Alright, I'll help you, so.. hop on."

I blinked. "What?"

He sighed. "Screw it." He stood back up and bridal-style carried me, and then started running.

 _This is like something out of a romance story…_

But instead of getting flustered like the main protagonist usually would, I just looked determinedly ahead.

 _Let's tease Natsu about the cliche scene later, shall we? All that matters right now…_

— _is that I'm getting that hairpin back._

 ***Goto- Japanese for 'robber'**

* * *

"So… do I have permission to ask why the hairpin is important to you? ...Now that I think about it, you did wear it often," stated Natsu while still running.

By now, Natsu had almost caught up to Goto, with the speed of almost a god _*_.

I sighed. "...Well. It's a hairpin that once belonged to my mother."

He blinked. "Oh. I don't recall ever meeting her before. Are your parents di -"

Goto turned around, only to see how close we were, and the look on his face was absolutely _priceless._

"Forget that thought. Alright, Lucy. I'm almost in reach."

I felt Natsu's pace quicken and he stretched his hand out to grab the back of Goto's shirt which caused the thief to stumble and fall.

Natsu let me down after that, and he snatched the pin out of Goto's hand. Goto, as a last resort, grabbed at Natsu's white headband, tearing it in the process. Natsu didn't even flinch as the robber continued to fight while he held him down.

I just watched as Natsu sighed and hit Goto on the back of his neck, causing him to go unconscious.

"Natsu."

"Yeah?"

"Um... Your headband."

He immediately touched his forehead, eyes widening as he saw the ripped cloth on the ground. "Ah, fuck no… shit shit shit…!"

I blinked, and watched as he picked up the torn cloth, muttering curse words in every single sentence he spoke.

I raised one eyebrow. "This is the first time I've ever heard you curse… And you're using those words like you've been using them since day one."

His eyes widened, realizing that I was there, hearing every word he was saying. "Ah… I'm sorry. I shouldn't be saying those things, especially in front of you…"

I waved him off. "It's fine. It's not like I don't use those words either."

Natsu just plopped on the ground and laid back, closing his eyes, paying no attention to the blacked out Goto next to him.

"It's just that… well… That headband was probably as important to me as your hairpin was to you, if not even more."

I blinked. "Oh. Well, shoot."

He sighed deeply. "It's fine. It was going to get ruined eventually."

I couldn't help but feel bad. I mean, he did everything to get back something precious to me, but yet, in the end, he ended up losing his own treasure.

"Hey… I won't hold it against you, but…" I swallowed. "If you don't want to be my bodyguard anymore because of this, I'm completely okay with that. Because like, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. I can explain to my dad about what happened."

Natsu re-opened his eyes and looked at me from the ground and stood back up, dusting his back.

"Lucy. This isn't your fault. I stuck to this job and I'm going to keep it too. I knew something was bound to happen sooner or later because that's just the way life goes."

He stood in front of me, making me tilt my head upwards to meet his eyes, and stared at me with his black orbs.

I broke my gaze and looked down, not being able to bear the tension in the air.

"Okay."

Natsu yawned and placed his hands behind his head. "Well, now that this is settled, let's go home shall we?"

Before I had time to respond, Natsu cut me off.

"Oh, right. Before I forget." Natsu put his hands behind his neck and unclasped something.

"Here."

His hands held an amulet connected together with a simple black cord, a red, amber dragon in the center of it all.

I blinked. "What's this?"

"Well… I guess, in a way, it's something that'll protect you. Kind of like a good luck charm, if you will."

I stared back at him. "An amulet. That protects me."

"Kind of…?"

I held up a hand. "Wait, let me guess… you can smell this too?"

Natsu laughed, and I couldn't help but laugh with him, relieved that he wasn't feeling as down as before.

 _It's been a long time since I laughed..._

 _Though I guess… it's not a bad thing, right?_

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— _**End of Chapter —**_

* * *

 **K: Well… Both of us are now officially off Spring Break -.- (R.I.P) which explains the late update. But y'all understand right? It's literally 11:28 P.M. right now. Anyways hope you liked this chapter. UNTIL NEXT TIME! (and who knows how long that is)**

 **A: (Spring Break went by wayy too fast) ;( Anyway, because of school and stuff, the chapters won't be updated as often. (Do you know how much I procrastinated to write this chapter? Yeah, explains most of the lateness.) So, hope you enjoyed the long ass chapter, and see ya again next time! (whenever that is) i'm tired.**

 **R/R =3=**


	6. Chapter 5

**K: Well** ** _shit_** **. Both of us have agreed that we are crappy authors for not updating in like 2 months. Like honestly, WE ARE SORRY! But then again, that's why you fav/follow us so you get alerts ;) *wink wonk* Anyways, here's this chapter. It's full of background info and like you get to know the characters better :D at least... I hope you do. Kinda OOC but eh whatever**

 **A:** **Hello readers, it's me, your author that's been missing for about two months. First of all, hi. Second, I'm grateful to those who actually stayed with this story even after this large 2 month gap period. Thank you. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this long awaited chapter, and until then! (which is literally at the ending author's note)**

 _Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail._

* * *

Chapter 5

 _Natsu PoV_

 _Ah… The fresh air of spring…_

I had been sitting underneath some of the cherry blossom trees with my eyes closed in the Heartfilia garden when I heard someone on the left. "Hey, Natsu."

Recognizing the voice, I opened my eyes and turned to look at Lucy. "What?"

"Here." She handed me a small, red box. I looked at her, surprised.

"What's with the box?"

She averted her eyes. "Just… open it."

"...Is there something I'm forgetting? Is there something special going—"

She sighed, cutting me off. "Just open it, Natsu. No need to make it anymore awkward than it already is."

"Alright then…" I opened the box carefully, trying hard to keep it from getting messed up and saw a _black_ cloth strip.

My eyes widened.

"Luce… um, what's this?"

" _It's a headband, you idiot,"_ she said with a laugh.

"Oh. Duh." _Wait…?_

I couldn't help but feel a strong sense of déjà vu.

"Here, I'll tie it on for you."

I instinctively shook my head. "Nah, it's alright. I'll do it myself. But thanks."

She raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

I grinned. "Yep."

She broke our gaze once more. "Do you… do you like it?"

I looked back at her, seeing a chance for a mild teasing, and said, "Yeah. I do. But I don't really like black that much..."

Lucy immediately gave an expression of panic.

"Oh, uh, …The storekeeper didn't have one in white, so I just got you black. I mean, your yukata is black, after all, and I just figured you liked black because of that so-"

I couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Haha, don't worry Lucy, I was just teasing you."

I tried to cover my mouth in an effort to stop laughing, but her reaction was hilarious.

"No really, thanks, Luce. I'll… wear it every day."

Lucy made her way next to me and sat down to my left.

"Y'know I… got you this because I felt kind of guilty. That headband you lost seemed really precious to you, and yet because of me you lost it…I get that it's not the same color, nor is it from the same person, but..."

She put her elbows on her thighs and planted her face in the palms of her hands.

"Basically, what I'm saying is… I'm sorry for all the trouble you had to go through because of me. I get that you didn't want to be my bodyguard in the first place and was forced to…"

I watched as she covered her face.

"Agh, this is so embarrassing… This is probably the first time I ever gave an apology in a really long time…"

My face started to contort into a grin.

Clearing my throat to regain my poker face I said, "Um… It's okay, really. I mean I was never a bodyguard, but it doesn't seem that bad of a job. Like, I mean, like um…"

Shoot, now _I'm_ getting flustered even though moments earlier I was having fun with Lucy's expressions.

"Bottom line is… Well, you don't really need to apologize… I mean, your dad hired me as a bodyguard for a reason, right? If you didn't need one then I wouldn't be here. And plus, bodyguards are the ones supposed to get hurt and not the person they're protecting."

Lucy removed her face from her hands and glanced at me. "Well, yeah… I guess so…"

Suddenly, Lucy sat upright and turned my way excitedly.

"Hey hey hey hey, Natsu."

I raised my eyebrows at the change of Lucy's attitude. "...What?"

"Now that we've kind of put our differences aside, why don't we take the time to know each other? I mean like even though I'm your client, we can still be friends, you know."

I considered her proposal and realized that she had a point. "Sure, why not?"

She crossed her legs on the bench and moved her body so that she was facing me.

"You go first."

"Uh, okay then." I took a moment to think about what to say.

"Well, I was born—" _11,000 years ago._ "—22 years ago."

"I never knew my parents since my father died in a previous war when my mom was pregnant, and she soon died after I was born from an illness." _At least that much is true._ "I was the youngest out of three kids and I have one brother and one sister; Zeref and Erza. I grew up under the care of my older siblings and had a really close childhood friend named Gray." I chuckled. "Gray always liked cold things,—" _Mainly because he's the God of Ice._ "—so during the summer all he would do is swim in the water praying to God to make it winter again." _That's actually pretty close to the real thing._ "My family also had a cat named Happy."

Lucy interrupted. "Wait, wait. You had a cat named _Happy?!_ "

I frowned. "What's wrong with that?"

She burst out laughing. "I don't know, haha, it's just _funny."_

Rolling my eyes, I continued. "Anyways, both Gray and I learned martial arts—" _And learned our powers._ "—and so we would fight _a lot._ Not the argument kind. I'm talking about the physical one. Because of that, we would always go home covered in cuts and scrapes and bruises." _And burns and frostbite._ "Right, Gray is getting married apparently."

I gave a small chuckle. "That boy is already beating me at life goals. That makes me feel kind of behind but, oh well."

Lucy interrupted again.

"Wait. Your friend is getting married and you're here being a reckless bodyguard? Is there anything you ever wanted to do when you grew up? Like, if you considered getting married as a checkpoint in your life, there had to be some other things too."

I closed my eyes and racked my head for memories and remembered something.

"Oh, you know how I said I used to learn martial arts? Well, I learned both the hand-to-hand combat kind and learned how to wield a lot of blades ranging from 1-2 _shaku*_ such as knives, daggers, wakizashis, kodachis, katanas, tachis, and et cetera."

*(Shaku=Measurement used in old Japan for lengths of blades)

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Damn. Boy knows his stuff."

I smiled at the statement. "I also liked to ride horses. I had a horse and her name was _Sokudo_ , meaning "speed.'"

My face fell at the last remaining memory I had.

"I… also used to court someone."

Lucy suddenly perked up, obviously interested. "Really? You, Natsu, used to date someone?!"

I looked at her with my eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I saw her sweatdrop. "Ah, uh, nothing. Continue. What did she look like?"

"She had short, white hair with blue eyes—"

"Hey! My favorite color is blue!"

I scanned Lucy, seeing only shades of pink and red on her clothes. "You clearly don't seem like blue is your favorite color."

Lucy looked down at her kimono and saw what my point was.

"Oh. But blue really is my favorite color."

"Anyways, she was really kind and funny and …" I saw my vision blur a bit. "...She was my—" _Nakama._ "—everything."

Hearing the different tone in my voice, Lucy looked at me concerned. "Hey… Natsu. Are you okay?"

I sucked in a breath, clearing my thoughts. "...Yeah. I just needed a moment there."

"I know this isn't my place to ask,... but… what happened?"

I looked down at my hands. "She… she died, Lucy."

"Oh."

After that, I didn't hear a "I'm sorry", but truth be told, I didn't want to hear one either.

"Luce. It's fine…I'm fine... You don't need to feel bad for me. It's been a long time since she died, so you don't need to worry about me."

"Well, if it helps, my mom… well, she died too. The difference is that she died while giving birth to me, so I never got to meet her."

I was taken aback at that statement. "Really?"

"Yeah. I only saw pictures of her, and well, we look really alike. Like if you saw her around the time she had me, we would look identical. My dad tells me that I look like her a lot and that I remind him of her."

"Whoa."

She raised an eyebrow. "It's nothing big. Anyways, you know how I'm rich, right? Or at least wealthier than the average person. Well, that explains the whole bodyguard thing. Ever since I was a toddler, I was always a target for money. Because of that, my dad hired a self-defense teacher which also explains the fan that I carry around."

I cut into her story.

"Oh, right. I wanted to check out your fan. I've been meaning to but kept on forgetting to ask."

Lucy pulled out a sleek silver fan, with a blue pattern for the mount, from the inside of her waistband. As I examined it, I noticed that the blades were carefully sharpened so that it had potential to kill people. Giving back the fan, I gestured for Lucy to keep on talking.

"But, of course, it takes time to learn self-defense, so I was kidnapped a couple times in my life like I mentioned earlier. As you can see, I was rescued each time because I'm talking to you right now, but the fourth time I was kidnapped…"

She stopped talking.

I started to run all of the possibilities that could've happened that made Lucy stop her story.

 _Rape. Witnessing a murder. Torture. Starvati—_

"... I don't know."

"Huh?"

Lucy turned her head, staring into my eyes.

"I don't know. I guess I had some serious traumatizing experience because I honestly can't remember what happened that day… or however long I was kidnapped."

She looked wistfully at the sky. "Well, I don't exactly remember this, but apparently Levy was kidnapped too, but before me. We ended up being held in the same room and somehow we got out. My dad took her in since she was an orphan, which is why she's here today."

Silence came in between us. I had absolutely no idea what to say because I wasn't sure if I was to give my condolences or if I was to be happy on her well-being right now.

Lucy decided for me.

"Well," The blonde stretched her arms high up above her head. "Why don't we get up and take a walk while talking about happier things, shall we?"

I laughed while shaking my head.

"Sure, why not." I mockingly bow, directing her deeper into the front yard. "If you please, milady."

As Lucy started walking in front of me, I couldn't help but smile when I noticed a cord tied at the back of her neck.

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— _**End of Chapter —**_

* * *

 **K: Again, sorry for the late update. But like with all this block scheduling and finals week, we are ALL busy so what do you honestly expect. No promises on when the next update will be, but... hopefully soon. Till next time =3=**

 **A:** **SO! I apologize for the delay on the uploading of this chapter, but hey! We had finals week! (Even though I didn't really study** _ **that much**_ **for it) Ahem. Anyway. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter somewhat, and thank you to all you readers who favorited, followed, and reviewed. Until next time!(again, don't know when that'll be but ya)**

 **Please R/R! :)**

 **WE HIT 10K WORDS WITH THIS CHAPTER :D! Thank you all for your support ^-^**


	7. Chapter 6

**K: I'm surprised at myself for actually spending time on this chapter because like… well…. You know, we our last update was like 2 months late so…. Anyways, hope you enjoy. (If you haven't noticed yet, the two of us have been trying to leave a cliff-hanger or a very satisfactory ending to that scene)(Technically everyone does but yeah)**

 **A:** **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter somewhat, and thank you to all you readers who favorited, followed, and reviewed. Kireizuken has been working very hard on this chap LOL enjoy~**

 _Disclaimer: The two of us don't own FT, Hiro Mashima does._

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Chapter 6

 _Natsu PoV_

"Uwahh~"

I still don't understand women.

Lucy and Levy were practically drooling over this apparently "in" perfume made of a crushed mixture of flowers, which to me smelled gross and made me want to vomit, and have been just smelling all types of perfume for the longest time. I decided to sit outside because the smell was driving me crazy, and I still could hear the two of them squealing inside.

I mean, we've been walking around for hours and THEY STILL HAVEN'T BOUGHT A SINGLE THING?!

At least men don't waste time and just go in and out after they get what they need.

Like, what's the point in windowshopping? All you're doing is just making yourself want things that you can't have, but then Lucy's rich so I don't know why she's just looking at things without buying them.

I really don't get women.

"Hey, Natsu."

I blinked.

Lucy had bent down and put her face directly in front of my face quite close.

I lowered my gaze and noticed her cleavage showing and immediately threw myself back which resulted in me hitting my head against the wall.

"Ow…"

Lucy stood up straight (thank the gods) and just crossed her arms.

"C'mon, let's go."

I muttered a few curse words under my breath.

Levy, who apparently heard me, asked, "Did you say something, Natsu?"

"Ah, no. Let's just keep on going."

* * *

"Hey, Lu-chan…," Levy trailed.

Lucy, still somehow not tired, turned around energetically. "Hm? Is there something wrong?"

The bluenette took a few breaths before continuing. "Haa… I mean… We've been wandering for over five hours now and you're the only one that wants to keep on shopping…"

Honestly, I still don't get how someone can go around just windowshopping for more than an hour… maximum.

Although I didn't show it, I was tired too. Mentally mostly.

Lucy's face showed a sudden change from realization. "Oh…"

Levy took this as a sign that she might've offended Lucy. "O-oh no no no Lucy, I'm just saying that we should go home soon… Um…. Hey! Maybe we should buy something for each other before we leave? Natsu can buy something for Lu-chan, I'll buy something for Natsu, and Lu-chan can buy something for me!"

Lucy immediately regained her spirit. "Yeah, that's a great idea! Why don't we meet up at the center of the square in 20 minutes. That should give each of us enough time to buy something and meet up back there."

Levy, now relieved that she didn't make Lucy feel bad, also didn't seem as tired anymore. "Alright! Natsu, you're okay with this, right?"

I shrugged, not really bothered by the whole ordeal. "Yeah, I'm cool."

* * *

 _What would Lucy like…_

I was roaming around the cosmetics and women's accessories peddler stands, but nothing was really catching my eye.

"Hello, you, young man!"

Wondering if that was directed at me, I turned around.

I scanned the area and saw an old lady waving at my direction.

Using my finger, I pointed at myself for confirmation and watched as the old lady continued to wave me over and nodded vigorously.

I started to walk on over to her stand and the lady began talking before I even closed the distance between us.

"Hey, are you trying to find a gift for a special lady?"

 _I don't know if I would call Lucy special…_

"Yes, I am."

The storekeeper beamed. "Then why don't you check these out? These were handcrafted in China and are quite expensive, but I'll give a discount just for you."

I examined the neat rows of hair accessories the lady had laid out in front of her stand.

 _Hair pins, hair combs, clips…_

Not knowing what to get, I asked, "What would you recommend for a girl with long, hair that likes to wear hair pins often?"

The shopkeeper drummed her fingers against the counter. "I would probably go with a hair comb, ah, and choose a color that would accentuate her clothes or pop from her hair color."

Once again, I examined the rows of merchandise, but this time keeping in mind what the store owner had told me.

"Ah, may I buy that one? The one at the very edge on the left."

"Sure. But that's the most expensive one we have."

"That's fine; just name the price."

I reached into my pocket and summoned the exact amount she stated and pretended as if I already had that much money from the start, and handed it to her.

* * *

"Natsu, stop whistling. And stop swinging that bag too; I feel like you're going to hit me with it."

I felt the blue cat shiver.

"Psh. I can whistle if I want to and I promise I won't hit you."

I stopped looking at Happy and kept on walking towards our rendezvous place.

"Huh. I don't sense Lucy or Levy anywhere," the blue cat stated.

"What? Are you serious?"

I groaned. "Ugh, hopefully they don't make us wait that long."

I lied down on a bench, ready to take a nap if needed.

* * *

I rolled over onto my side.

"Happy, how long has it been since we got here?"

I heard the Exceed sigh. "Eight minutes, Natsu. You've already asked me that question three times under the span of ten minutes..."

I placed the back of my hand over my eyes, shielding them from the sun. "I swear to the gods that if they don't come within the next fi-"

"Natsu!"

"Oh, thank the gods," I muttered under my breath.

I forced myself to sit up and saw a bluenette running towards me.

"Ha... I'm so... whew... sorry... I kind of... got lost on my way back... wait... Where's Lu-chan?"

"I don't know... You're the first one that came back."

I saw a look of worry flash across her face.

"Hey... I'm pretty sure that she's okay. I mean, she didn't have a private martial arts tutor for nothing."

Levy gave a weak smile. "Yeah... okay."

"Why don't we give her five more minutes. I'm pretty sure that she'll pop up by then," I say reassuringly.

Levy then sat at the other end of the bench and pulled out a book from her bag.

"Here. I wasn't sure what you liked so I just bought you a book..."

I took the book from her hands and scanned the title.

"Oku no Hosomichi*... Thanks, Levy. I'll read it when I have time."

"Your welcome." I watched as she pulled another book out.

 _The Tale of Genji_ * _by Murasaki Shikibu*... a classic._

"-st. Pst. Natsu."

I looked down at my belt where Happy was hanging down from and saw the cat's eyes stare back at me.

I quickly glanced at Levy to make sure that she didn't notice Happy, and sure enough, she was deeply engrossed in her story.

Looking back down I said, "Hey, Happy. I told you not to talk to me in public. What if someone notices you talking. You're going to get both of us in-"

"Natsu. You don't understand. It's urgent."

"What could possibly be so-"

"Hiryu was summoned."

 ***** **Oku no Hosomichi** **by Matsuo Basho- A book written in Edo Japan in the late 17th century. It was a poetic form of his diary as he and his companion, Kawai Sora, departed from Edo, modern-day Tokyo, to a northerly interior region known as Oku. It was considered as "one of the major texts of classical Japanese literature."**

 ***** **The Tale of Genji** **by Murasaki Shikibu- A book written during the peak of the Heian period in the early years of the 11th century. It's sometimes called as the "world's first novel" still considered to be a classic. The story depicts a unique description about the lifestyle of high-courtiers during the Heian period.**

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— _**End of Chapter —**_

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 **K: Well… I guess all of you readers didn't have to wait as long…? At least compared to the last chapter lol. Ahh… school is finally over HALLELUJAH! Hopefully, the two of us will now update this story faster. And thank you ALL for the support you've given us ^^ Now that our story has been added to a community, we have been getting more views/follows/favorites and we can't express how much we love you guys. See you at the next chapter!**

 **A: Well, Kireizuken basically said everything, so... hmm... ah, school's over, so hopefully we'll be able to update more often, and again, guys, thank you so much for the support you've given us!~ Until next time!**

 **P.S. Can you guys review X) We like those a lot lmao**


	8. Chapter 7

**A: Well shit. When was the last time** _ **I**_ **wrote a chapter…? It's been so long, I know… Well, I don't remember how exactly I portrayed Lucy a few months ago, but I'll try my best to keep this chapter as similar as the others!** _ **Please be aware, though, that I'm writing this, so the writing style may differ from the previous chapter.**_ **Thank you for 15K views, you guys are the real MVP. Anyway, enjoy the story!**

 **K:** **Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry for the really fucking late chapter wleskdjsfk . our fault on this one (although mostly A's) and I honestly don't know when the next update will be so uh yeah STAY TUNED TO OUR TRASH STORY :D**

 _Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does._

* * *

Chapter 7

 _Lucy PoV_

"Dammit…" That marked the eighth store I've walked in so far.

Ten minutes had already passed, and yet my sorry ass still couldn't find a single thing to buy for Levy.

At first, I was confident in my ability to pick something out for her, but then this concept of overthinking started to form and in the end nothing was bought.

...At least so far.

Don't get me wrong, buying gifts for Levy was a simple thing to do. I've done it countless times in the past but today was abnormally hard.

My thoughts were kind of warring against each other and were something along the lines of, "Hey, Levy would LOVE this! …Wait, but then she'd feel guilty since it's too expensive… But I can't let myself buy something cheap! We're talking about Levy here! But then what if she refuses to take the gift…"

 _Shit, there's only seven minutes left..._

My eyes darted around the marketplace desperately searching a store that had potential for a gift.

 _Oh my goodness, thank you, Kamisama, wherever you are._ (Everyone in heaven sneezes.)

I hurried on over to the previous shop that had the perfume Levy and I had absolutely adored.

Upon entering the shop, I noticed that the saleswoman was now different from before. Hearing the door open, she lifted her head at me before smiling politely. "Our apologies, Ma'am. We're tending to other customers at the moment, so you'll have to wait a bit..."

Her eyes slightly widened.

"It's alright, I can wait. I don't mind," I said, sending a smile.

She smiled apologetically. "Thank you. I'll be right back."

Sitting down in a nearby chair, I pulled out my metal fan absentmindedly, examining the patterns of the fan to ease my boredom.

I soon found myself spacing out.

 _If I'm buying Levy something and Levy is buying Natsu something, that would mean Natsu needs to buy something for_ me _, right?_

Amused, a smile involuntarily crept on my face.

 _Huh. I wonder how that'll turn out. I'm looking forward to it._

"Miss Lucy Heartfilia?" the saleswoman asked, bringing me back to reality. "Please follow me."

"Huh? Oh, sorry I wasn't paying attention." Wariness started to form inside of me for reasons I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Shaking off the unfamiliar feeling, I stood up and walked on over to where she was standing.

She started walking into a corridor, one Levy and I had not been in before and asked, "Are you looking for a particular scent?"

"Actually, I am. I've been looking for something to give as a gift to my friend." Thinking some more, I added, "Do you have anything that smells like lavender?"

At this, the woman smiled. "Yes. If you don't mind, I'll bring it out for you to test it out, Miss."

Watching the woman leave the room, another nagging thought started to form in the back of my head.

 _What is this weird feeling…_

The owner came back out with an opened, small bowl container filled with a white powder.

"Um… Does this smell like lavender? I came earlier and the color of the scents usually matched their original flower…"

"It is. Our base powder, which is the white color you see here, somehow is stronger than the extracted flower color, so it comes up white some of the time."

"Ah, I see."

"It's fine. Please hurry and smell it."

I blinked at the sudden statement. "Oh, right. Sorry."

 _Well, that was rude._

Leaning over, close to the tiny bowl, I took a whiff of the scent _._

"Um, this is… not…. lavender….."

My eyes started blurring and felt my body crumble to the ground.

I heard a sadistic voice behind me. "Good night, _dear_ Miss Lucy Heartfilia."

 _Well, fuck you too._

 _I really do trust people_ way _too much. Dammit._

And then everything went black.

* * *

A groan escaped my lips as I felt my head throb.

With my eyes still closed, my hand reached out towards my right to grab my fan which I always place next to my bed everyday before sleeping.

My hand didn't comply to the command.

My eyes shot open, forgetting about my pain which resulted in what felt like multiple needles pierced in my head.

Tears involuntarily sprang to my eyes in response.

I slowly turned my head to where my hands were, careful not to induce any more pain.

My wrists were shackled around a post, my back resting on the front.

Shifting uncomfortably, I scanned the room, which I just now realized was dark, hoping to find an escape route if my bonds were ever removed.

However, my brain decided to side against me and just throb annoyingly.

Sighing, I gave up on thinking of an escape plan.

"Creak…"

My brown orbs immediately shot up at the direction of the sound, a man who had just opened the door.

I quickly looked him over, trying to find any weakness.

 _A knife in its sheath hung from his belt, gauntlets on his hands, at least six feet tall, leather boots probably with something hidden in them, a bulge under his yukata filled with something…_

The man squatted down in front of me, staring at me with his one eye since the other was concealed by his bangs, as if trying to find something.

"Hello, Miss Heartfilia… Long time no see."

To say the least, this guy was already acting like a dick which earned him a spit to the face.

The man closed his eyes and raised his eyebrows as he wiped my saliva off his cheek.

"That wasn't very nice was it?"

I glared back at him, refusing to say anything.

The black haired man sighed. "Well, I guess this was expected to say the least. The name's Satou Kei, by the way. You can call me Kei though, makes me feel special… Or you can just say nothing at all, I guess." He finally noted my hateful stare.

He smirked when he added, "Oh, other people like to call me Rogue. Just in case you wanted to know."

My eyes stayed on his, as I took even breaths trying to keep my composure. I wasn't exactly sure what it was, but when he mentioned his nickname as Rogue, a chill ran down my back. Almost as if I heard it before.

"No thanks. I think I'll just call you Douchebag from now on. Correction: I won't call you anything at all since you're just a giant dick."

Kei let out a laugh, like he didn't have a care in the world. "Haa… I'm sorry Lucy, but you're going to try harder than that to insult me."

"No one needs to try hard for someone below them," I retorted.

The man leaned his face closer into mine. "Exactly who's below who? Please, refresh my memory."

I remained silent and kept on giving him one of my traditional glares.

Kei leaned his face closer to mine, up to the point where I swear our noses had a millimeter of space between them and looked directly into my eyes.

Staring back with equal intensity, I didn't break our gaze.

It felt like forever before the black haired man stood back up. "Well, I guess you don't remember me...Yet."

The same uncomfortable feeling I felt earlier came back. "Oh, and by the way, the lady who rendered you unconscious does work in that perfume shop but also works for me secretly. She noticed who you were and knew that you were a priority target, and I'm pretty sure you know what happened from there."

Kei smirked again before heading out towards the door.

"Wait."

The man stopped in his tracks and turned his face slightly, not quite looking at me.

"What do you want from me? If it's money, I'll gladly give it to you. Oh wait, do you want a high position? I can give that to you too."

This time, Kei turned around fully so that he was once facing my direction. He lifted a finger to his chin and pretended to tap it thoughtfully. "Hmmm… I don't really want anything _from_ you. More like I want _you_."

It didn't take a genius to understand what he was saying.

"Huh, I don't really know what you mean by wanting me. Do you want to take my organs or something? Maybe want my facial features…"

Honestly, I myself don't even know what I was saying except for the fact that I didn't want to show my fear.

At this point, the last thing I wanted to do was to make Kei feel like he had the upper hand. In this situation, I can't do anything to prevent him from doing whatever he wants to do. The best option at the moment was just to buy myself more time.

The man sighed.  
"You see, Lucy, I knew you were going to act like this, but there's only so much of your petty comments a person can take at once. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to give you… a minor punishment."

Kei signaled for one of his men who were apparently waiting outside the other side of the door. The guard gave him a small cup filled with liquid that definitely did not look like water along with a small, round pill.

Kei walked back towards me with the substances in his hands. "Say ah~"

Turning my face to the side, I silently refused.

"Aw, come on, Lucy, don't be like that. I don't want to start having to use force on such a pretty girl."

I didn't even bother looking at him.

"Sigh… I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way."

Although my face was turned aside, I watched with my eyes Kei drinking the liquid and popping the pill in his mouth.

He squatted in front of me once more, but this time grabbed my chin and tilted it up, forcing me to look at his gleaming eyes.

I can't say that I didn't know what was to come next, but then again, it's not like I could've really done anything.

He crashed his lips onto mine, his tongue demanding entrance. His hand wrapped around my neck, preventing me from breathing and forcing me to swallow the bitter liquid.

Kei pulled himself away from me, leaving me panting for breath after the whole ordeal.

My glare never left my face.

I watched as he slowly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, giving me that shitty smirk once more.

"Just a heads up: Not only are you going to be rendered unconscious, this drug will leave you paralyzed and in pain for a couple hours. Happy sleeping!"

I felt the drug working inside of me, causing the headache I already had even worse.

My eyelids started to droop as I started to slowly go unconscious once more.

Growing more tired each second, my head fell and I closed my eyes in defeat feeling warmth surround me.

I heard Kei screaming in the background.

 _Wait… what?_

Gathering up the last of my strength, I re-opened my eyes.

There in front of me was a fiery, red dragon, coiled around me protectively with its mouth spewing blazing flames.

And yet, I didn't feel any pain nor was I scared.

As I felt my consciousness slip away, I had one last thought.

 _Natsu._

Then everything went black, like it always did for me.

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— _End of Chapter_ —

* * *

 **A:** **I apologize to you readers and my co-author partner, Kireizuken, for postponing the chapter for so long. School started, and yeah, the usual procrastinating. Yeah… she's been stressing me to write for months straight, and even so it was her who ended up writing it... Anyway, I just wanted to say this. You guys, I don't actually write Fairy Tail fanfictions, so you shouldn't follow me. Instead, follow Kireizuken! She has no stories at the moment, but if you absolutely love this story, go follow her instead of me, this story is basically 100% all her, and she's more likely to write for Fairy Tail than me (I write KHR mostly). I hope you really liked this chapter, and until next time!~**

 **K: So, like I said in the beginning, the two of us apologize sincerely about the lack of an update… Yeah, I know, we suck. But then again, you guys followed/favorited our story so… Anyways, the two of us can't guarantee the next update even more so since school started.**

AND THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL OF THE SUPPORT YOU HAVE GIVEN US! 15k views, 120 follows, and 80 (well 79 to be exact) favorites! You guys are the best :D

P.S. We really like reviews and those are our motivation so I'm just saying. (the longer the better) Criticism is also welcome ^^


	9. Chapter 8

**A:Honestly, I'm just so damn grateful for the amount of reviews ya'll put, and at the same time I feel so guilty because I haven't touched this story in like ages lol. Like Y said, we really are shit authors and at this point I don't even know why you guys stuck around, but thank you so much and till the next update in 1243254 years!**

 **Y: [Changed username from Kireizuken - Yeoui] We are shit authors and I'm sorry that all of you guys love our shit/slow fanfiction _ I'm surprised that we got 15k views even though we didn't update anything. WELP here's the new chapter for y'all.. Might as well stop reading this since the next update might be in a year, two years, a decade WHO KNOWS? Sincere apologies and thanks to those who are going to stick around.**

 **We wrote an extra long chapter since we felt bad. Can you guys notice the difference in our writing since we first started? ;) Hope we improved lmao (We're actually going through old chapters and editing them since our past writing was so cringey _)**

 _Disclaimer: We don't own FT or its characters; Hiro Mashima does._

* * *

Chapter 8

 _Natsu PoV_

"Huff… huff…" I placed my hand on a tree, desperately trying to regain my breath.

 _Come on, Natsu… Keep running…!_

"Natsu, her energy is getting stronger. You have to cross through this clearing and then I'll be able to get a clear direction of where Lucy is." Wiping the sweat off my brow, I asked, "Do you know her condition? If Hiryu came out, she must've gotten hurt… Do you know how bad her condition is right now?"

Happy closed his eyes, trying to gain a picture. "I'm not feeling any sort of emotion from her, so I'm guessing she's unconscious… or in shock… Eh, probably both. The pain doesn't seem severe… yet. It seems like it's a type of poison since it seems to have spread all over her body. The sooner we get to her, the better." Taking a few more breaths, I forced myself to get back on my feet. Being stuck in the mortal world really did have its limitations.

"Okay, let's go."

 _I'm coming for you, Lucy._

* * *

"Natsu, make a right turn at the next building and then another right. She's within a hundred meter radius." I made an effort to run faster. "Alright."Quickly passing the mentioned building, I asked, "What's her current status now?"

Immediately, Happy gave a reply. "She's still unconscious, or at least I think she is, but her body seems to be in a worse condition than before. Once she wakes up, she's going to be met with an explosion of pain. I think that whatever the kidnapper dosed her was some kind of potent herb or flower extract used to form the poison."

I rounded the next corner, still running. "Where to from here?"

The Exceed paused for a few seconds before giving his directional aid. "Go straight down this path street. Her signals are getting stronger." Picking up my already fast pace, I bolted down the bustling street, pushing random strangers out of the way.

"This one!" Happy pointed at an okiya* whose lights were even brighter than they usually were due to the fast approach of the night and had traditional music emanating from the core.

I closed my eyes, calming my racing heartbeat and breath. "So she was taken into the red light district…" Walking slowly, I reached the entrance. Sliding the screen door open, the room full of music and dancing, with both men and women alike, flooded my vision. Numerous tables with players and geishas were filled with money and game pieces. A voice interrupted my temporary awe. "Welcome to the Kamishichiken*. How may I help you tonight, Sir?" I turned my head, locating the elegant voice. A geisha, one who looked to be about twenty years old, had her head slightly bowed and eyes closed.

"Ah, I'm not here to get a room… I'm actually looking for someone."

The woman, with her head still down, suggested, "Perhaps one of my girls might have seen her… I'll call one over for you. Are there any identifiable things about this person?" I quickly sorted out my thoughts. "She has blonde hair… Um, she was wearing a pink kimono earlier… Oh, her name is-"

"Lucy Heartfilia, is it not?"

A man with raven black hair pierced through my soul when his stormy gray eyes met my onyx black orbs. All sorts of thoughts flooded my head as I tried thinking of reasons of how he knew I was looking for Lucy. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. The name's Kei. Satou Kei. Welcome to my place, the Kamishichiken."

Still staring at him, I remained silent, not introducing myself back. Kei pursed his lips. "Well then, I guess, I'll go back to work. I will tell the others about the woman you're seeking for, though." The uneasiness didn't leave me. As Kei turned around and started to walk away, I grabbed his forearm and pulled back the sleeve, revealing an intricate pattern of burns that swirled around, almost like a dragon.

I would have punched him in the face right then and there if it weren't for the geisha's knife at my throat. My anger slowly started to be redirected at the woman. "Move your hand." The white-faced woman met my eyes, not wavering for even a second. "No."

A loud, booming sound of laughter from Kei broke the tension between us. "Oh Natsu, Natsu. So young, so naive." I still faced the geisha, but my eyes were looking at Kei."Where is she?" My voice, close to a growl, came out low and soft, yet still conveying the boiling rage in me. Kei wiped the tears off his eyes, still trying to regain his breath after his outburst. "Huff… Whew, I haven't laughed that long in ages."

"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS BEFORE I FUCKING RIP YOUR THROAT OUT," I roared.

The air in the room stiffened, the sounds of enjoyment dying out from the guests around us. Kei just kept on chuckling. "Shiori, put away your dagger. This man is just a young tiger, rebellious and just showing its claws. He won't actually do anything."

The geisha whom I assumed was Shiori widened her eyes. "But Master—" Kei's eyes immediately hardened. "Now." Shiori glanced at me and then back at Kei once more and reluctantly sheathed her blade "Yes, Master." He turned back to look at me and motioned with his hands to calm down. "Now, now, before we get all feisty, why don't we chat over some tea? It sounds good to me."

I seethed through my teeth. "I don't ever want to have tea with you, you asshole." Kei sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Why did I even bother asking…" Kei straightened the collar of his dark blue yukata. "Tell you what," He met my eyes once more. "We have some tea and discuss our current… situation and then do all of the other stuff after. Deal?"

"Fine."

A smile broke out on Kei's face. "Great. Shiori, prepare some tea and some snacks for us, yeah? And oh, deliver them to my study." The geisha bowed again. "The tea will be ready in six minutes." She straightened herself, motioned for some other servants to come help her, and left. Kei turned to the crowd behind him. "Sorry, everyone, for the big disruption. Carry on with your night!" The okiya's silence was deafening at first, but little by little, sounds of music and entertainment came back once more.

The gray-eyed man looked back at me and motioned to a hallway down my right. "Shall we?"

 ***Okiya-** A lodging house in which a maiko or geisha lives during the length of her nenki (contract or career as a geisha).

 ***Kamishichiken-** The oldest hanamachi (geisha district) in Kyoto. (It's a geisha district but we just used it as a name for a specific okiya :P)

* * *

"Alright, let's start off with a couple things that need to be addressed first." My eyes looked straight at his. "Like what?" Kei casually sipped his tea.

"Hmm… I don't know… Maybe the fact that I'm apparently holding a person very dear to you hostage? Or is it the fact that I almost violated a woman, regardless of who she is to you? Or may—" I cut him off. "I swear to the gods, if you don't start talking seriously now, your life could possibly end very soon, so if I were you, I would talk. Now."

Kei raised his arms up, feigning shock. "Whoa there, Natsu. You don't need to get so worked up. I'm just trying to lighten the mood here." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I mean, threatening the holder of your hostage isn't the best idea. Just saying." His voice alone was enough to get me furious, and the things he said of what he almost did, perhaps actually did, to Lucy were adding fuel to the flame that I was having a very hard time keeping control.

"Well, I think that's enough chit chat for now." Kei snapped his fingers. "Shiori." The geisha re-entered the room and bowed. "Yes, Master?" "Can you bring us some more tea?" Shiori took the empty teapot and cups and bowed her head again and left the room. Kei faced me once again with a smile on his face. "Now, shall we get ready?" My expression was still as cold as it was from the beginning. "For what?"

"A game, of course. What would an okiya be without some gambling? But, to make things fair, I'll let you choose the game. You have half an hour. Choose wisely."

* * *

I let out a large sigh and stared at the mixture of purples and pinks above me.

"What should I do?"

The keychain on my belt replied, "You've never been good at gambling… Even though Kei gave us half an hour to decide on the game to play to make it fair, we're bound to lose regardless since the only 'gambling' thing you can do is just roll dice cubes. You can't keep a poker face, predict cards well, etc…"

My fingers ran through my hair, tangling the pink locks together.

The bright red lights from the okiya, the streets still bustling even during the evening, the ringing music from inside and the sound of voices from the surrounding people were all blurring together, putting myself into a state void of any emotion and sense. My mind was racing yet not thinking at all as I tried to figure out the best way to fix everything without actually registering any of my thoughts.

Happy's voice pulled me out of my temporary trance. "Natsu, look." He motioned towards an alleyway, one that was usually unnoticed by most, but this time had a small girl clutching herself trying to stay warm with tear stains on her face.

I walked across the street and crouched in front of her, making myself at eye level with the child. "Hey, are you okay?" The girl, looking to be about seven or eight with a dark brown haired lob with a unnaturally skinny frame, looked up at me and quickly rubbed her face, trying to remove the previous marks of her crying session.

She softly replied, "Yeah." I reached into my pocket, pulling out an old rice snack, one that I had forgotten to eat earlier, and handed it to her.

"Sorry if it's a bit cold… It's all I have on me for the moment." Her eyes lit up, probably seeing fresh food for the first time in a long while. Her hand shot up and grabbed the small mass and immediately started chewing.

I instinctively started to stroke her head while she ate, feeling pity for the kid. "My name is Natsu. What's yours?"

The girl, still focused on the snack replied in between chews. "My name," She swallowed, "-is Teiko."

"That's a cute name." A small pink flush appeared on her cheeks.

"Can I ask you something?" Her doe eyes stared at me, curious at what I was going to ask her. "Do you know where I can buy some dice? It doesn't have to be expensive or anything." Teiko stood up, and pointed down the street, at a vendor about a block away. "He's a pawn shop owner, but he has the biggest range of things to sell so you might find one there." I watched as the pawner sold a pair of chopsticks to a young man.

"Alright, thanks a lot." I smiled at Teiko. "I guess this is goodbye then." Her large eyes still stared at me, silently begging me to stay, but her mouth stayed shut. I chuckled and held her hands. "Don't worry, I'll come back later. Pinky promise?" I offered my right pinky to her. Teiko's face broke out into a smile, the first one she's given me since I met her. "Promise." Her pinky latched onto mine.

I quickly jogged on over to the vendor, not wanting to waste any time. "Hello, do you have any dice here?" The old man turned around, just noticing that he had a customer. "Oh, hello young man. Dice you said?" He started rummaging through his boxes. "Let's see…" He pulled out two wooden cubes with kanji on all of the sides, representing the six numbers. "Here they are. I got them a long time ago so you can just take them for free. No one really wants dice anyways, and if they did, they wouldn't come to me for them."

"Really? Thanks Ojii-san." He placed the dice in my hand. "No problem."

With the dice in hand, I quickly strided back to the okiya.

The Exceed stopped me in my tracks, right in front of the okiya entrance. "Wait, Natsu. Roll the dice first before we go back inside." I looked down at Happy. "Why?" The cat replied, "We need to test them to see if they're real and not faux dice."

I knelt down on the ground and tossed the cubes on the ground. "Double threes… nothing new there with my luck. I picked them up and threw them down again. Three lines on each face of the dice glared back at me. I tossed them again, the same number etched onto the faces stared back up at me.

Happy spoke my thoughts out loud for me. "Faux dice… Double threes every time you roll them. We can't use them then because people will immediately know that these are fake."

"Wait, Happy, where did Teiko go? I want to give these to her since we aren't going to use them anyways. Plus, they were free."

He pointed behind me, his finger indicating to a small girl. I quickly rushed back on over there, placing my hand on her shoulder which slightly startled her.

"Oh, Natsu. What is it?" Teiko's face showed a mix of concern and fear, unsure of why I came back.

"Teiko, hey, do you want these dice? Turns out they were faux dice that always roll double threes so we can't use them for what we want to do. I guess you really do get what you pay for." I gave her a cheeky smile while saying all this.

The girl gave a small laugh at this, and she held out her hand for me to place the dice in her palm. I reached out and ruffled her hair, finding myself liking our small connection.

"Anyways, I need to go… If you want to watch my game, I'm going to be in that okiya over there." I motioned towards the most lively on the street.

"Hope to see you again, Teiko. It was nice meeting you." Teiko gave me her largest smile, one that melted my heart as she said, "Goodbye, Natsu. Thanks for everything."

I waved and turned around, ready to face my opponent on the gambling table.

* * *

Kei sat in front of me, his face mixed with amusement and smugness after hearing my suggestion as to what game to play. The crowd, filled with all sorts of people, were intently staring at us and whispering among the onlookers, wondering what would unfold.

The black haired man stood up and faced the crowd. "Now, now everyone, settle down. Natsu, our special guest, is going to play a simple game of dice. Whoever gets closest to the sum of thirty-five wins, but if they go over, they instantly lose. They have the option to stop rolling as well. But whoever wins gets the grand prize of a young maiden, but whoever loses, pays with their life!" The crowd began to cheer, excited at the blood that would be spilled.

Kei raised both of his arms up, hyping the crowd even further. "Shall we begin?" The onlookers roared in response. He sat back down, dramatically to say the least, and called a servant to bring over a pair of dice. "Would you like to go first, or do you want me to?"

While still glaring at Kei with the same intensity I did with before, I said, "I'll go second."

"Great, a wise choice indeed. Now, let's get the ball rolling, shall we?"

* * *

It was down the one of the final rolls. Kei had a sum of twenty-seven and I had a sum of twenty-one. It was my turn, and the next roll could determine the rest of the game. I placed the dice in the cup and swished the cup around, praying to the gods that I could get a high number. I slammed the cup face down and slowly lifted the cup off the table. A six and a two faced up, putting me at a sum of twenty-nine. I needed a six or less in order to not lose straight off the bat. As I picked up the dice to put back in the cup, I thought about the odds of me winning.

 _If Kei has twenty-seven, he needs an eight to get thirty-five… The easiest number to get since it has the highest number of possibilities._

I realized then, I was cornered. Even if Kei doesn't roll an eight, he has more than half of the numbers he could roll without going over thirty-five. I whispered to Happy. "Should I stall this?"

The Exceed nodded. "You have no other choice." I squeezed my hand that was holding the wooden dice until I heard a small crack. I placed the contents of what was in my hand back into the cup and handed it back to Kei. He lifted the cup near his ear, trying to hear the dice and predict the placement of the individual dice to obtain the ideal number. I smirked to myself as I saw him frown, not able to distinguish the sounds that he was so used to. Defeated, he flipped the cup upside down and lifted the it, revealing broken pieces of what was once a pair of dice.

"Oh, the dice broke. I wonder how…" Kei looked back up at me, raising an eyebrow in amusement at my audacity. "Hm… What a strange coincidence. Guess we'll need to get a new pair."

Kei motioned to one of his servants and they brought a new pair of dice. I held up a hand, stopping him from re-rolling. "How do I know they didn't just give you a pair of faux dice that would roll an eight? We know that you have the chance of winning right here, and I don't trust you or your servants to not cheat now." I took the cup from Kei's hand the tossed the contents out. Double fours were then shown to myself and the crowd. The crowd gasped as they realized that there was foul play starting to get involved.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't be this serious about this game when it concerns my own life?" Kei smiled, hiding his slight humiliation. "Sorry about that. But that wasn't really my fault. My servants just want to help their master, you know?"

"Well, then teach your servants how to be more honest and what the definition of 'fair play' is." Kei motioned again, calling a servant to bring more dice. Again, I rolled to check the authenticity of the dice. Double fours. Another servant. Double fours. Another. Double fours.

I slammed my fist down on the gambling table and raised my voice. "Are you really going to keep on cheating like this?! My life is on the line, and I don't want to play a game like this where I'm going to get constantly cheated out of." Kei held up his hands, an act of surrender.

"Fine, fine. I guess my servants aren't as trustworthy as I thought they were." He turned to face the crowd. "Anybody here have spare dice with them? A random person's dice, one that wouldn't have had affiliation with me and wouldn't have known about this game." A dirty, young girl stepped forward and held out a pair of cheap looking dice. Kei glanced at me. "This would be fair, yes? A random poor child's dice should do the trick." I gave a small nod of approval. Kei placed the dice in the cup and starting swirling it, ready to roll at the right time.

"Wait."

Kei stopped swirling the cup and looked at me. "What now?"

I smirked. "Why not raise the stakes even higher? If you roll double threes, I win. If you roll any other number, you win. What are the odds of you rolling double threes?"

Kei raised an eyebrow at my proposal. "That's a very risky idea that you just gave. You sure about that?" I smiled. "Of course I am. I gave the proposal, after all."

The man's eyes gleamed with delight at the interesting change of things. Kei turned to the now excited audience. "You all heard this right? Everyone here is a witness to the proposal that our guest Natsu gave." The crowd murmured in agreement as a response.

Kei, now with an aura of confidence, started swirling the cup with the dice in it once more. He flipped the cup upside down and slowly lifted it up. I and the rest of the audience looked on in anticipation. The wooden cubes flared three lines etched on the surface on both cubes: double threes. The crowd gasped at the odds of this happening and slowly switched into a roar as they went into a frenzy. Kei's face was of one in horror and shock at his loss. I pushed myself off the chair and started walking towards the back, past Kei who was still in shock, to the place where I knew would lead me to Lucy.

"Wait."

I stopped in my tracks after hearing Kei's voice. The crowd immediately silenced itself, holding their breaths at what Kei might say next, still in his chair.

"Just kill me. That was the original deal, no?" Still not facing Kei, I said, "I won't. It's not that I don't want to, but I would rather you deal with the shame and humiliation of this experience. People now know that you're a cheater, a loser to someone terrible at gambling, a kidnapper. I hope your okiya loses its business, and with that, your pride. Take this as a warning: Don't ever touch Lucy again."

Silence was all I got. I resumed walking and Kei's guards moved away from me as I was about to slide open the screen door. Sounds of shuffling came from behind me. I ignored it and slid the door open. A hand grabbed my wrist as I was about to enter the next room.

"I love her." A frenzy of emotions overtook me as I spun around and grabbed him by the collar and jerked him to my face. "Don't you DARE say those words. Not after everything you did. You don't have the right to love her, much less even look at her. You never even expressed your love to her, supposing that you even do. Can you even say that anything that you have done would be perceived as love by someone else?"

I glared at him with a fire burning in my body, heated from the anger that was pent up this entire time. Kei stared at me back with stone cold eyes.

"Then do YOU love her? Because if you don't, you also don't have a right to be jealous. This time I'm asking as a man to a man."

I blinked.

 _Love…?_

My mind immediately flew back to Lisanna and the feelings I held for her, but then my mind raced back to Lucy almost instantaneously. Not being able to differentiate my feelings, I couldn't think of a clear response to give which resulted in me giving silence as an answer.

"ANSWER ME," Kei shouted.

"I… don't know. But what I am sure of is this: That Lucy is a special person to me." Kei, not satisfied with my answer, laughed bitterly. "And yet you have the right to tell me that I cannot love her. How would you know—"

"Because I loved someone before. And everything you did didn't express a single drop of love in any of your actions." Knowing that my answer sufficed, I pulled my wrist away and walked down the stairs into his secret underground chamber. As I approached the entrance to the cell, the guards moved away from the door, allowing me entrance.

Bracing myself for the sight that I would see, I took in a deep breath and opened the door.

Lucy was on her knees and tied up against a post with rope. Her head sagged, the weight of it pulling her frame down in her unconsciousness. Beads of sweat were clustered on her forehead, her body fighting the poison that Kei had administered to her earlier. She had an orange glow to her from Hiryu's sleeping body emanating magical fires all around him.

My heart pounded in my chest, filled with the same pain I had when Lisanna had died, as I took in Lucy's pale, lifeless form. I walked on over to her, my steps causing Hiryu to wake up and look at me. I stroked his head and whispered, "Good boy. Thanks for protecting Lucy." Hiryu blinked in response and disappeared back into the necklace around Lucy's neck. The pendant glowed bright red for a split second, before fading back into the original dark red dragon it was.

I carefully untied the cords that had tied Lucy to the post and gingerly picked her up bridal style.

Now having a closer look at her face, I could see all of the minor scratches on her face that marred her previously flawless complexion. I put the back of my hand on her forehead to check her temperature and knew that she had a severe fever. My heart tinged with guilt as I knew that I had left her alone and had indirectly caused this to happen.

 _I'm sorry, Luce._

I carried her back up the stairs and through the crowd in the main room, eliciting stares from the people. As I reached the door, Kei handed me a gold key, one that had intricate designs all over and had a large diamond implanted in its bow. he said, "Tell her father that Rogue won't be a problem anymore." I looked at him in confusion. Kei then walked off, merging into the crowd, without giving me an explanation. When I exited the building, the sun had already set and the cold nighttime air nipped at my skin. I felt a vibration from my arms and re-directed my attention back to Lucy. She was shivering, ever so slightly, although she was sweating profusely from her fever. I set her down against the wall and took off my outer layer of my yukata and draped it over her. The shivering continued, although a bit less than before.

I felt a tugging at my yukata from behind me. I turned around and saw a small girl who looked up, smiling. I smiled recognizing the child. "Thanks Teiko, for what you did back there. That was a brave move that you did. I knew you would end up watching in the end." I patted her head.

Teiko looked at me hopefully. "Natsu, can I go with you?" I laughed.

"Why not? I'm sure there's room for you at where I'm staying." I picked Lucy back up from the ground and motioned to Teiko with my head. "Come."

* * *

"Natsu! You found Lucy! Is she okay?" Levy rushed towards me, showing both happiness and fear in her voice. I slowly lowered Lucy down onto the nearest chair, my arms tired from the trip. "Yeah, she's not in an emergent situation, but she does have a terrible fever and needs medication." Levy analyzed her face and gave a nod, agreeing with me. She looked back up at me with a grateful expression. "Thanks, Natsu. For everything."

I felt a little heat rush to my cheeks as I awkwardly accepted the compliment. Levy finally noticed Teiko. "Oh, who's this?" She crouched, meeting the girl at eye level. "What's your name?" Teiko shyly answered, "My name is Teiko…"

Levy laughed. "You're so adorable! Come I'll give you a room right after I help this Onee-chan get some rest, okay?" Teiko nodded, with a hopeful expression on her face. Levy looked back up at me. "Natsu, can you carry Lucy to her room? It's the first one to the right of the stairs on the second floor. I'm going to go to the kitchen to brew some tea and prepare some medicine." I nodded, and picked Lucy back up from the chair and took her to her room.

* * *

I watched as Levy slowly poured the medicine through Lucy's lips as I held her upright so she wouldn't choke. Levy sighed. "We'll have to wait till the morning to see how she is, and until then, there's not much else we can do."

"Okay, thanks Levy." She shook her head and smiled. "No, thank you. For saving my best friend." She stood up and started picking up the used utensils. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to stay here all night?"

I blinked. "Probably… It's the least I can do I guess."

"Okay then. You should probably get a different chair though… Those are uncomfortable to sit in." The bluenette pointed at the chair I was sitting on that was next to Lucy's bed. I chuckled. "No, it's okay. I'll be fine." Levy shrugged. "It's your funeral. Good night, Natsu."

"Good night, Levy."

I watched as the petite girl left the room and focused back on Lucy. It was a dark room, illuminated by only one candle which was placed on Lucy's nightstand. Although the light was small, it was enough to give full view to Lucy's innocent face. Still holding her hand, I pulled my chair closer to her.

"Hey, Happy, I'm not going to break the laws of Heaven if I use a little bit of magic here, right?" Happy thought for a moment. "Yeah, it's only wrong if you use it to harm other mortals."

"Okay, good." I placed my index finger on her wrist and let loose amber-colored tendrils which danced around and immersed into her skin. The strands lit up wherever they went in her bloodstream and I watched as it traveled up her arm into her heart and dissipated. Although still unconscious, I saw Lucy let out a small sigh and noticed that her breathing slowed.

I kept her hand on mine and smiled.

 _Good night, Luce._

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 **— End of Chapter —**

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